This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman's Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ATLANTA -- Ronald Acuña Jr.’s return to Truist Park on Wednesday reignited discussion about his recent “If it were me, they would take me out of the game” social media post.
His post was in response to Braves manager Brian Snitker’s response to a question about Jarred Kelenic getting thrown out at second base after pimping what was just a long fly ball off the wall during an April 19 win over the Twins. Snitker seemed to play coy when he said, “Should I have?” when asked if he had said anything to Kelenic.
Despite him later saying he hadn’t actually seen Kelenic admire the fly ball, I believe Snitker was protecting Kelenic just like he protected Ozzie Albies on May 6, after the second baseman was thrown out attempting to score from third base on a grounder to Reds third baseman Santiago Espinal with none out and the game scoreless in the seventh.
Also, just like when Snitker protected Alex Verdugo on May 9, when the outfielder didn’t understand that he was still going to pinch-hit, even though Stuart Fairchild was standing in the on-deck circle as a decoy. Instead of fooling the Pirates, the Braves fooled Verdugo, who was back at the end of the bench when he should have been at the plate.
Snitker has also protected Acuña many times. The instance everyone will remember was when the Braves skipper was upset with José Ureña after he hit Acuña with a pitch in 2018. Snitker also bit his tongue a few times before ultimately pulling Acuña in the middle of a game against the Dodgers on Aug. 18, 2019. The young outfielder had committed the same mistake as Kelenic multiple times before he was punished.
It seemed like Snitker was delivering a message to his club’s 21-year-old cornerstone much like Bobby Cox had done when he pulled a 21-year-old Andruw Jones immediately after he lackadaisically approached a fly ball.
Regardless of what your profession might have been, I think it’s safe to say that at 21, we have all somehow irked a superior, many of whom were looking out for our best long-term interests.
Unfortunately, the benching didn’t have a positive impact on Acuña from both an immediate and long-term perspective. Two months after being benched, the young outfielder did the same thing during Game 1 of the NL Division Series against the Cardinals. His fly ball off the right-field wall resulted in a long single. He was doubled off second base a few minutes later and the Braves eventually lost by one run.
Acuña also homered and made a nice sliding catch during that game. He was both the GOAT and the goat that day.
Did his post, which was deleted within an hour of him posting it, indicate he still harbors ill will toward Snitker for this incident, which occurred six years ago? He of course said no when asked this question. He said he was just frustrated because he was unavailable to play while the team was losing.
But that was part of the problem. His message was posted on April 20, less than 24 hours after the Braves had won consecutive games for the first time this year, and a few hours before they completed a sweep of the Twins.
As expected, the sweep didn’t garner nearly as much attention as the post. That wasn’t fair to Acuña’s teammates.
This brings me back to the end of Acuña’s 2023 MVP season when he said he had to catch the bus instead of talking to the media after the Braves had been eliminated by the Phillies in the National League Division Series.
Some fans reacted by saying he doesn’t owe the media anything. You’re right. But he certainly owes something to his teammates, who chose to wear it while being asked uncomfortable questions about how such a great season ended in such disappointing fashion.
What Acuña feels about Snitker really doesn’t matter. There have been plenty of superstars and managers/coaches who haven’t been the best of friends throughout the sports world. But it’s certainly important for him to be a good teammate to the other players.
Acuña apologized to Snitker and his teammates on Wednesday before telling us: “It’s all in the past.”
Good. Now, it's time to turn the page and look forward to the opportunity to be reminded why Acuña is widely considered the most talented player to ever wear a Braves uniform.